How to Better Use Social Media For Business

Each of these networks has its own special strengths and purposes. Choose the ones that are right for you and fit your capacity and time.

As in life, it is better to be positive than negative, and be full of generosity and kindness when you see things that are great!

Facebook

Still the gorilla of social media, Facebook has a considerable user base globally. In Australia, a whopping proportion of us are active users. When you cut out the very young and the very old, you can appreciate the numbers. If there is one place you are going to be, it should be Facebook, no matter what kind of business you are in.

Edgerank: the more interactions your post gets, the more people will see it.

Facebook TIPS:

Use Facebook Insights to see who is engaging and what posts are popular (or not)

If you have images online to share, link to the URL (except for video)

Twitter

Twitter is excellent as a Search tool (you don’t even need to post). You can find events and popular #hashtags for your industry

By all means, piggyback off national and State event/awareness days. They have well-publicised event #hashtags

Try to get noticed/retweeted by the key influencers in your area

Repeat your tweets 2 or 3 times, spreading them a few hours apart

Add a few images for each tweet

Google+

Google Plus is owned by Google so it goes without saying that it is good to use it. The SEO for these posts is excellent, of course, and for that reason alone, I recommend it. The links in Google+ posts are nofollow but the posts appear in search results giving greater exposure than just your website alone, particularly is it is a new site or has few quality inbound links.

Use streaming (through YouTube) for focus groups or your expert panel (they can be public or private)

For plain text article excerpts, stylise your text

Use hashtag.

Use polls

Instagram

These are personal and visual accounts and share slices of life. If your business is strong in visual elements, such as food, art, craft, furniture, Instagram is a good choice. For a business, it’s best to have a personal angle by enlisting someone to make the updates based on their experiences at work (staff/CEO/whoever). Lufthansa, for example, uses pilot photos including through the cockpit window.

Instagram Tips:

Remember, companies don’t Instagram, people Instagram.

Use 5 to 10-word captions for images

Use hashtags

Look at what’s popular

LinkedIn

This is the network for the highest quality content. Allows you to position yourself for competence and expertise.